Dressbarn robbed

Police say man went into store with a weapon but no one was injured

In what one detective described as "an odd place" for an armed robbery, the Dressbarn in the Centre at Hagerstown was held up Tuesday at about 3:15 p.m., city police said.

The robber walked west toward the area of the former Borders book store after the robbery at the women's retail store at 17682 Garland Groh Blvd., Hagerstown police Lt. Paul Kifer said.

The robber was described as a white man in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a black top and black pants.

"An employee watched him walk out of sight," Kifer said.

Detective Jim Hurd said the man went into the store with a handgun in his waistband and raised his shirt several times to reveal a black gun with a brown handle to the clerk. Hurd said he wasn't sure if the weapon was a pistol or a semiautomatic handgun.

The man got away with cash from both registers, but police didn't know the amount, Hurd said. A K-9 unit tracked the man's scent to the far west end of the parking lot but lost it there, Hurd said.

"It's an odd place to pick to do an armed robbery," Hurd said, noting that armed robberies are rare in the Centre at Hagerstown.

He said no one was injured in the robbery.

However, an ambulance from Community Rescue Service was called to the store for someone who was having chest pains. Hurd said he wasn't sure if the person was a customer or an employee.

Maryland State Police and the Washington County Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene.

Police cordoned off the store, dusted for fingerprints and interviewed witnesses. Officers were on the scene for about an hour.

The store will remain closed until officials at corporate headquarters decide to reopen.